Distance: 10.8 miles out and back
Elevation Gain: 2,500 feet
Trailhead Elevation: 5,506 feet
Trail High Point: 6,886 feet
Season: July - October
Best: August
Map: Mount Jefferson Wilderness (Geo-Graphics)
Directions from Portland:
• From Estacada, drive southeast on OR 224 approximately 25 miles to the Ripplebrook Guard Station.
• A short distance after Ripplebrook, OR 224 becomes FR 46 at a junction with FR 57. Continue straight (right) on FR 46.
• Drive another 22.3 miles on FR 46 to a junction with the Olallie Lake Road (FR 4690) – you will notice that “Olallie” is painted on the road with an arrow to mark the direction.
• Continue past this junction 6.6 miles to a junction with the Skyline Road (FR 4220) on your left at Breitenbush Pass.
• Turn left here and drive 1 mile of gravel road to a large gate.
• Continue past the gate, where the road abruptly worsens into a rocky, narrow and severely rutted track that will test the patience of any passenger car driver to his or her breaking point.
• Drive another 5.8 excruciatingly slow miles to the signed trailhead on your right, at a large parking lot made of bright red cinders.
Directions from Salem:
• From Salem, drive OR 22 east approximately 49 miles to Detroit.
• Turn left at a sign for Breitenbush, Elk Lake and Olallie Lake onto FR 46.
• Drive 16.6 miles on FR 46 to a pass where you enter the Mount Hood National Forest.
• Turn right here on the Skyline Road (FR 4220) and drive 1 mile of gravel road to a large gate.
• Continue past the gate, where the road abruptly worsens into a rocky, narrow and severely rutted track that will test the patience of any passenger car driver to his or her breaking point.
• Drive another 5.8 excruciatingly slow miles to the signed trailhead on your right, at a large parking lot made of bright red cinders.
Note: Starting in 2020 you will need a limited entry permit for this hike.
Hike: After driving into the trailhead on the Skyline Road, you could be forgiven for wondering if this hike is worth the trouble it took getting there. It most definitely is. The view from the summit of Park Ridge is impossibly great: Mount Jefferson reigns supreme over the parklands and lakes of Jefferson Park. A more scenic destination is difficult to imagine. Once you’ve seen Jefferson Park from above, it is almost impossible to resist the temptation to continue on down to Jefferson Park, where Mount Jefferson fills the sky above an alpine wonderland of gorgeous lakes and meadows filled with wildflowers. Unlike many places, even the hyperbole cannot prepare you for Jefferson Park.
Pick up the PCT at a signboard at the trailhead. Hike a hundred yards to a junction where you meet up with the main trail. Turn left and hike through alpine forest with small meadows as you ascend gently out of the basin that holds Breitenbush Lake. Pass by a couple of talus slopes where pikas meep as you pass and enter forest burned in the Pyramid Butte Fire in 2010. Look out to your right to rocky Pyramid Butte (Hike 62), badly scorched in the fire bearing its name. Once you leave the fire zone behind you will begin a moderate ascent through unburned forest until you reach a crest at about 6,100 feet. Descend for a bit before beginning another moderate climb; soon the trail levels out and passes through a series of rocky meadows that are covered in snow until late in July most years. The tip of Mount Jefferson peeks out behind Park Ridge, reminding you of your destination ahead. At approximately 2.5 miles from the trailhead, leave the forest behind and enter a moonscape of rockslides, snow patches and scattered ponds fed only by snowmelt. The trail braids here in many places as it passes by ponds and through scattered clumps of weather-beaten trees. Follow cairns across this stark, rocky basin until you reach Park Ridge’s snowy, boulder-strewn headwall. Soon you will arrive at a permanent snowfield; follow footsteps here up to the summit of Park Ridge, where the view will knock your socks off. Mount Jefferson towers over the meadows and lakes that make up Jefferson Park. A more amazing view is hard to imagine.
The viewpoint at Park Ridge.
Many hikers will want to make this their final destination. Though wildly beautiful, Jefferson Park is 2 miles and 1,000 feet of elevation below the summit of Park Ridge, miles and elevation you will need to regain on the way back to your car. If you choose not to hike down to Jefferson Park but have a bit more energy and a willingness to explore more of the rugged landscape up on Park Ridge, you have several options. Exploring either east or west along the ridge crest is highly recommended; every step east or west opens up new views to Mount Jefferson and hidden basins on both sides of the crest. Remember that the boundary with the Warm Springs Reservation is less than a mile east of the Park Ridge viewpoint, and continuing east from there is prohibited. If you are continuing to Jefferson Park, it’s 1.9 glorious miles downhill through hidden basins and meadows to a junction with the South Breitenbush Trail just west of Russell Lake. From here, the possibilities are seemingly endless. Return the way you came. For more information about Jefferson Park and points south see Hikes 70, 73 and 74.
Following the Pacific Crest Trail downhill to Jefferson Park.
Backpacking in Jefferson Park:
Jefferson Park is among the most crowded backcountry destinations in Oregon. If you wish to camp, plan ahead and check to see if a proposed permit system (similar to the one found at Pamelia Lake) has been implemented. In any case, be sure to camp in designated campsites (marked by a post) or at least 250 feet away from any body of water on bare, non-vegetated surface.
If you visit in July or August, mosquitos are a major nuisance. This is also peak flower season, and the park is extremely crowded. September brings cool weather and less crowds, and best of all, the mosquitos are gone. October brings cold nights and frequent snow showers. The vast huckleberry fields here turn a vivid shade of red, you are more likely to spot wildlife and the solitude is tremendous. You can’t beat it if you don’t mind the cold.
Morning in Jefferson Park.